Righting Hollande

Incoming French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has a reputation as a Blairite modernizer or Clintonian triangulator.

Updated April 1, 2014 5:56 p.m. ET

French President François Hollande dismissed his cabinet on Monday following a drubbing for the Socialist party in last weekend's municipal elections. Gone is Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Prime Minister who presided over 11% unemployment and an economic policy most charitably described as erratic. In his place Mr. Hollande named popular Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Mr. Valls has a youthful air and a reputation within his party as a Blairite modernizer or Clintonian triangulator. If that means Mr. Hollande finally intends to...